“Man, what are you doing?” Cole vaulted over the back of the couch, landing next to Chad on the couch in their lair with a thud, almost tipping the couch over with the force.
“Hey!” Chad jerked, yanking the headset off his head and glaring at Cole, his hand pressing against his chest. “Give a dude some warning, man.”
Cole just laughed as he reached for the remote to the Television as they heard movement from upstairs.
“Thought you guys were going to the mall,” Chad muttered, turning to face Cole, closing the laptop he was holding.
Cole shrugged, “Raven showed up with her clones and got upset because Adam was talking to us … well, Telly.” Cole’s grin had Chad curious, his arms crossed over his laptop waiting for his best friend to elaborate. Cole started flipping the channels still with the grin.
“You going to tell me what happened?” Chad snapped at Cole who looked over at Chad with a vague expression.
“What?” Cole tried to look innocent but the corner of his mouth twitched into a small smile. “No idea what you are talking about, man.”
The sounds of footsteps on the stairs announced the rest of the Guardian’s arrival in the basement but Chad didn’t look away from Cole who was still flipping channels. Finally, he had had enough and reached out, snatching the remote from Cole’s hand. “Just tell me,” Chad snarled then let out a grunt when Cole reached under his arms and grabbed his laptop before flipping backwards off the couch. “Hey, give that back!” Chad leapt up glaring at his best friend.
Cole’s eyes widened as the temperature in the room chilled, the others stilled as they watched the scene in front of them. “Chill, man.” He smirked at Chad, who wasn’t looking amused. He opened the laptop, his brow furrowing. “A Moment With Chad?”
The remote hit the table with a thud as Chad grabbed the laptop leaving a thin layer of frost on Cole’s hands as he pulled back with a disgruntled look at Cole, who just melted the ice so quickly all that was left was steam. “Never mind.” Chad turned his back on Cole and the others moving away to put his laptop into his back pack.
“I thought you were using the chalkboard or whatever for that,” I.Q remarked while the others stood there watching.
Chad’s shoulder lifted and his lip curled. “Thought this way would be a bit more inconspicuous.” The dirty look he sent Cole’s way had his best friend looking chagrined.
“Can I read it?” Vanna asked him as stepped closer to him with a hand held out.
Chad frowned at her, “Why? You guys never believed me about the author writing about our lives or the fact that our lives are part of a bigger story.”
“Just because we don’t believe what you do, doesn’t mean we can’t support you.” She told him softly as the others nodded.
“Yeah, just because you might be a few cards short of a full deck doesn’t mean you aren’t still my best friend.” Cole told him, trying to get him to grin even as Chad still glared at him. “That’s what friends are for.” He plopped back on the couch.
His brother clasped his shoulder, “So, you tell us what this week’s adventure with Chad is all about and we will tell you how Raven ended up in the mall fountain.”
Chad shrugged his brother’s arm off his shoulder but he was smiling when he did it, “It’s called A Moment With Chad and one day it will get its own Academy Award, you watch.”
Tia and Telara both moved to take seats on the arm of the couch and chair, Tia smiled, “So, are you going to humor us?”
Chad grinned and opened up his laptop showing them the picture of a very large TV with a woman leaning out of it while another stands there staring. The words A Moment With Chad sprawled across the TV. “This episode is in honor of our great storyteller, who was interviewed on live TV.”
“Wait! What?” Cole leaned forward in his seat.
“Where?” Telara asked him as she looked at the laptop but the only thing she saw was the picture. “Is that her?” She pointed to the picture.
Chad laughed giving a shake of his head, “Naw, that is just a picture I pulled off the internet and added my moniker to. Now, do you guys want to hear the rest of my episode or what?” He gave them all pointed looks, to which they had the grace to purse their lips and look contrite. “Okay, as I said this episode is in honor of TL Shively who was interviewed on her local TV station about her books.”
“Did she tell them all about me and how heroic I am when wielding my Crim?” Cole grinned flexing his arms, to which Tia rolled her eyes.
Chad sighed, “No, and she also said that the interview wasn’t all about you. It was about all of us and our story.”
Cole opened his mouth but a slap from Tia on the backside of his head had him frowning. She glared at him. “Let him finish, as a “good friend” should.” He grunted at her but sat back against the couch.
Chad grinned, “The picture not only has to do with TL’s interview but also the useless but still very interesting fact I chose today. Watching TV burns more calories than sleeping.” He grinned proudly. “TV burns 10% more calories than sleep.”
“What does that have to do with an interview?” Telara couldn’t stop herself from asking.
Chad frowned at her. “TV? Hello!” His voice raised slightly and the others laughed.
“Well, it couldn’t have been an interesting interview if she didn’t talk about me,” Cole said grabbing the remote and changing the channel. “But I do agree that this is the kind of exercise I can get into.”
The girls rolled their eyes as the boys laughed, everyone settling down to watch the latest series that was the craze.
“Oh, hey, how did Raven end up in the fountain?” Chad asked, looking at Telara who shook her head pressing her lips together in mirth, her hand raising and pointing down at Tia who was sitting next to her with a proud look on her face. “All right!” Chad gave Tia a high five before settling on the floor next to the couch.